WELCOME TO AZTALAN NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK

Indian peoples occupied this area off and on for many years before a new group of Indian people arrived who built the large mounds and other prehistoric features that now characterize Aztalan, a federally-designated National Historic Landmark.

The people who inhabited the prehistoric village of Aztalan (ca. A.D. 1100 - 1250) hailed from the major Mississippian town of Cahokia, located near present-day St. Louis. Aztalan is one of Cahokia’s northernmost settlements. Why the people of Aztalan chose this location and why they later abandoned it is unclear. However, the location did provide an important transportation route (with access to Cahokia via the Crawfish, Rock, and Mississippi Rivers) as well as abundant local plant, animal, and other resources. In addition to hunting and gathering, the people grew corn, squash, sunflower and tobacco. Trading with other resident Indian communities also likely occurred. Kenosha PublicKenosha artist: Museum; Rob Evans This vibrant community built ceremonial and burial mounds, houses, stockades, fish weirs, garden beds, and other features. In its heyday, several hundred Indian people called Aztalan home. Aztalan National Historic Landmark

SITE MAP

The people who built and occupied the prehistoric village of Aztalan N (ca. A.D. 1100 – 1250) replicated major features found at the much W E larger Middle Mississippian site of Cahokia near modern day St. Louis. S 2 An outer stockade with bastions surrounded the 22 acre enclosure, with two additional stockade systems inside the enclosure. It is not known if all of these walls were standing at the same time. Additional mounds and other prehistoric earthworks are located east of the Crawfish River.

3 1 the southwest platform mound, the site’s largest and principal mound, was not a burial mound, but did have a large structure on its summit that was likely used for communal ritual activities.

2 the northwest platform mound is associated with numerous burials. To the northwest and outside of the stockade (not shown on residential the map) is a line of several conical (circular) shaped mounds, built to area commemorate important events. This line of mounds once extended well to the north and includes the famous “Princess Mound”, located plaza behind the historic structures just north of the park. This mound contained the remains of a young woman covered in thousands of shell beads. 1 3 the northeast platform mound, originally no more than five feet high, has been greatly reduced by cultivation and is today visible only as a slight rise marking the mound’s southern edge.

the southeast mound, often referred to as the “Gravel Knoll”, 4 Crawfish River has been shown to be a small glacial kame modified by Aztalan’s 4 inhabitants to resemble a platform mound.

This “birds-eye view” of the Aztalan site - as it may have looked in its heyday - was produced by

archaeologists from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; artist: Eric Paulson Aztalan National Historic Landmark

SITE MAP The people who built and occupied the prehistoric village of Aztalan (ca. A.D. 1100 – 1250) replicated major features found at the much larger Middle Mississippian site of Cahokia near modern day St. Louis.

E An outer stockade with bastions surrounded the 22 N S

W acre enclosure, with two additional stockade systems inside the enclosure. It is not known if all of these walls were standing at the same time. Additional mounds Crawfish River and other prehistoric earthworks are located east of the Crawfish River.

the southwest platform mound, the site’s largest and 3 1 principal mound, was not a burial mound, but did have a large structure on its summit that was likely used for communal residential area ritual activities.

2 the northwest platform mound is associated with numerous burials. To the northwest and outside of the stockade (not 2 shown on the map) is a line of several conical (circular) shaped 4 mounds, built to commemorate important events. This line plaza of mounds once extended well to the north and includes the famous “Princess Mound”, located behind the historic structures just north of the park. This mound contained the remains of a young woman covered in thousands of shell beads.

3 the northeast platform mound, originally no more than five feet high, has been greatly reduced by cultivation and is today 1 visible only as a slight rise marking the mound’s southern edge. 4 the southeast mound, often referred to as the “Gravel Knoll”, has been shown to be a small glacial kame modified by Aztalan’s inhabitants to resemble a platform mound.

This “birds-eye view” of the Aztalan site - as it may have looked in its heyday -

Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; artist: Eric Paulson was produced by archaeologists from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Aztalan National Historic Landmark

THE CAHOKIA CONNECTION Mississippian people settled over much of eastern North America during the Late Prehistoric period. The people who built and occupied Aztalan (ca. A.D. 1100 – 1250) replicated major features found at the principal Mississippian site and ceremonial center of Cahokia, located near present day St. Aztalan itself has been recognized as Louis. At Cahokia, these features included an extensive stockade, platform and other mounds, a one of only 2500 federally-designated large central plaza, distinct ritual and residential areas, agricultural fields, as well as a “woodhenge” National Historic Landmarks. used to predict the seasonal solstices and equinoxes.

Archaeological research at Aztalan, including analysis of stone tools and pottery, indicates a direct connection with Cahokia – at least some of Aztalan’s residents appear to have come from the Cahokia area. The Crawfish River provided ready access from Aztalan to Cahokia via the Rock and Mississippi Rivers.

FEATURES FOUND AT CAHOKIA WERE BUILT TO A MUCH LARGER SCALE THAN THOSE FOUND AT AZTALAN As an example, the main platform mound at Cahokia - Monks Mound, The scale of Cahokia reflects the size of its population, an estimated the largest prehistoric earthen structure north of Mexico - measures 20,000 or more people versus the 300 or so who lived at Aztalan. In its approximately 1000 feet by 800 feet and is 100 feet high. In comparison, time, Cahokia rivaled other major cities of the world in its size, technological Aztalan’s southwest platform mound is about 180 feet by 130 feet and achievement, trading networks, complexity of social organization, and stands 16 feet high. influence. Aztalan represents neo of the northernmost Cahokia-related settlements built and occupied during Cahokia’s zenith. Ann Scott, DNR

Recognizing Cahokia’s status as a cultural heritage site of international significance, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated Cahokia a World Heritage Site in 1982, placing it on a par with England’s Stonehenge, Peru’s Machu Picchu, Egypt’s Great Pyramids, and other

Cahokia Mounds State Historic artist: Site; K. Lloyd Townsend remarkable places of the ancient world. Aztalan National Historic Landmark

APPEARANCE AND MANNER OF DRESS Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site; artist: Michael Hampshire

Based on European explorers’ descriptions, contemporary artists, along with archaeologists and others, have depicted a variety of clothing types worn by Mississippian peoples living throughout the southeastern part of the continent. the clothing styles worn by the people of aztalan varied special symbols, garb, and adornment, including copper with an individual’s position in the community, with most people and shell beads, ear spools, and “long-nosed god” maskettes wearing utilitarian, day-to-day clothes, and higher ranking were associated with ritual activities and burial practices. individuals wearing more elaborate clothes. Variations in dress and appearance tend to underscore distinctions in social class and at the same time reinforce community identity. Aztalan National Historic Landmark

OTHER ARTIFACTS Lake Mills-Aztalan Historical Daniel Museum; Seurer Milwaukee Public Daniel Museum; Seurer Lake Mills-Aztalan Historical Daniel Museum; Seurer

Bone awls and copper pendant “maskettes” (above), shell beads (top right), and ear spools (lower right); not to scale.

While pottery and stone tools are the most common and durable artifacts found at Aztalan, other items were crafted of animal bone, shell, and copper. Shell was fashioned into spoons, pendants, and beads, and native copper was used to make fishhooks, beads, and earspool coverings.

hollow and light weight bird bones were made into flutes plant materials were also mixed as a binder with clay and used for ornamentation. Harder and more solid deer bone and used like plaster to coat the outside of houses and stockade was worked to create awls, bone needles, and other tools. Fibers walls. When the structures burned, the fire would bake the from tree bark and other plants were used to make clothing, bags, plaster into a hard, brick-like material. Visitors to the site in the netting and other items. mid-1800s misidentified the baked plaster as mud bricks. Today this material is known to archaeologists as “Aztalan brick”. Aztalan National Historic Landmark

SOCIAL ORGANIZATION Cahokia Mounds State Historic artist: Site; Michael Hampshire At Cahokia, a member of the Mississippian elite and his retinue welcome the rising sun, ever a symbol of renewal and rebirth.

Specialized crafts, extensive trade networks, and construction of large structures (stockades and mounds) demonstrates a high degree of social organization and complexity.

aztalan’s layout, with communal structures atop the treatment of the dead, with certain members buried in northeast and southwest platform mounds and a distinct mounds and others buried in non-mound contexts, again reflects residential area where the majority of the population lived and a prevailing social hierarchy. The plaza provided a shared space worked, reflects the community members’ varied social functions where elite and lay villagers interacted in communal and ritual and status. Differences in clothing types, adornment, and use of activities. symbols reinforced these class distinctions. Aztalan National Historic Landmark

STOCKADE over 7,000 large posts were set vertically into the ground to build the stockade at aztalan. Willow or other branches were woven through the posts and the whole stockade was then “plastered” with a mixture of clay and grasses. Mark Dudzik, DNR A partially reconstructed section of the stockade (with bastion). Wisconsin Historical Society; artist: Robert Burke Daniel Seurer Cut-away view of stockade construction showing inner posts, willow, The southwest mound and section of reconstructed stockade. and plaster.

A stockade is a high wall or fence surrounding an inner area. Stockades serve a variety of purposes: for protection, to control entry, to distinguish public use areas from private areas, or to demonstrate capability or power.

aztalan evidences three stockade types: an exterior the external stockade contained defensive bastions stockade, an inner plaza stockade, and a residential area or watchtowers at regularly spaced intervals. Entrance points stockade, but the stockade construction sequence is unclear, were cleverly “camouflaged”; although the wall looked solid and and it is not known if all three types existed at the same time. continuous, it had areas where the wall was open but overlapped itself, forming a hidden entry through a narrow, protected passage. Aztalan National Historic Landmark

PLATFORM MOUNDS Daniel Seurer The southwest mound showing classic, multi-terraced “platform” shape. Daniel Seurer Wisconsin Archeological Society The northwest platform mound. Burials associated with the northwest platform mound.

Platform mounds (also called “pyramidal” or “flat-top” mounds) were typically built to support buildings. These buildings were religious or other specialized structures or homes for the elite members of Mississippian society. Platform mounds were built in stages, each one having an accompanying structure.

generally, these mounds are not associated with burials, ten individuals were placed within this structure, although some do contain remains of high ranking community upon a mat woven of bullrush. The remains of an additional members. The northwest mound is an example of a platform individual were “bundled” with twisted cord. When the structure mound that contained burials. This mound was constructed in was completed, the building – with the deceased individuals three stages and, on the west side of the second stage, a special inside – was burned. After this, a final layer of earth was placed structure known as a “charnel house” was built. over the burned structure and remains. Aztalan National Historic Landmark

WARFARE Daniel Seurer

The stockade suggests on-going conflict during Aztalan’s occupation. However, only one of the individuals found buried at Aztalan shows evidence of a violent death (an arrow point embedded in the side of the skull). Nonetheless, human bone fragments unassociated with evident burials are found at numerous locations across the site, at times seemingly discarded in refuse pits and hearths. these bone fragments show signs of intentional cutting, mississippian burial practices variously included dismember- breaking, and burning, but these fragments are not consistent ment and cleansing of remains, cremation, and reburial. That with patterns of cutting and breakage resulting from cannibalism. said, the fragmented human bone found within the confines of Instead, they resemble patterns of fragmentation similar to other the heavily fortified village indicate at least occasional episodes sites that provide evidence of ritual treatment of captives. of conflict at Aztalan, perhaps with a new group of people in the area - the Oneota. Aztalan National Historic Landmark

OCCUPATION AND ABANDONMENT Marifrances / Cahokia Cataldi Mounds (montage) State Historic artist: Site; (figures) / Daniel Seurer K. Lloyd (photo) Townsend

Stone tools indicate that Aztalan was occupied off and on for at least 10,000 years. A substantial Late Woodland village occupied this location for many years before the arrival of Mississippian people who built and inhabited Aztalan from about A.D. 1100 – 1250.

evidence indicates that the late woodland people cahokia itself seems to have been declining about this continued to reside at the site, interacting and perhaps time, and the people of Aztalan may have moved back to living with the Mississippian newcomers. Sometime after A.D. Cahokia or other Mississippian villages, either of their own 1250, the people of Aztalan appear to have abruptly left, but the accord or after being pushed out by others. The reasons for reasons they did so are unclear. There is no evidence that the abandoning Aztalan remain one of the site’s enduring mysteries. people of Aztalan simply moved to other locations in the region. Aztalan National Historic Landmark

HOUSE STRUCTURES Houses at Aztalan include examples of building styles typical of both Late Woodland and Mississippian construction techniques. Late Woodland structures tend to have circular floor plans with wall posts set into individual post holes, and were commonly sided with bark and animal skins. Mississippian houses are typically rectangular with wall posts set in trenches and house walls plastered with a mixture of mud and grasses like the much larger stockades. although they were not built in rows, the homes were densely grouped, indicative of community planning. These homes were year-round residences and many had entrances facing south, away from harsh winter winds. Interiors were furnished with pole frame beds, likely covered with tamarack boughs, deer skins, and furs. Fire pits were located either in the center of the living area or near the entrance, with a central vent hole in the roof to help disperse smoke. Wisconsin Historical Society; artist: Robert Burke House types identified at Aztalan.

i v e r h R f i s a w C r Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; artist: Eric Paulson Kenosha PublicKenosha artist: Museum; Rob Evans The residential area of the site is highlighted (shaded area) above. Aztalan’s “round” house type. Aztalan National Historic Landmark

STONE TOOLS Lake Mills-Aztalan Historical Dan Museum; Seurer Mississippian type arrow points recovered from Aztalan Celts and Mill Creek chert hoe (bottom); not to scale. (top and bottom) and drill tips (middle); not to scale.

Tools made of stone, as well as the by-products of making stone tools, are the longest lasting and most common artifact types archaeologists encounter. Tool production was a specialized craft by this time and Mississippian stoneworkers created utilitarian and ritual artifacts charac- terized by extraordinary craftsmanship and consistency of form.

stone tools such as drills, knives, arrow, and spear the people of aztalan used local stone to produce points were made by chipping fine-grained chert and other many items, but some tools such as hoe blades were made rock. Stone pipes, grooved and ungrooved axes (celts), gaming from cherts only available in southern Illinois. These tools may pieces and pendants were made by pecking, grinding, drilling, have been acquired by trade or brought to the site by Aztalan’s and polishing raw stone. Mississippian immigrants. Aztalan National Historic Landmark

LEISURE ACTIVITIES

Tchung-kee, a Mandan with SmithsonianTchung-kee, Game a Ring Played and Pole (George American Catlin, Art 1832-1833); Museum, gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr. Chunkey stones. Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site

Prehistoric Indian communities engaged in a variety of leisure activities, like the games of “ring and pin” and lacrosse, which are well-known and still played today. While evidence of recreational activities at archaeological sites is often limited, we do have direct evidence that the people of Aztalan played “chunkey”.

chunkey was a game in which a small, round, ground the illustration above, by the artist george catlin, shows stone artifact (called a chunkey stone or discoidal) was rolled Mandan men engaged in the game while other members of the across an open area while players threw spears at the location community watch. At Aztalan, this game was likely played in the where they thought the stone would stop. Whoever came closest, large plaza area. Beyond enjoying competitive games, prehistoric won. Chunkey games have been historically documented over a Indian people sang, danced, played music (with flutes, rattles, wide area of North America. and drums), and told jokes and stories ... just as we do today. Aztalan National Historic Landmark

CRAWFISH RIVER

fish weir C r a w f i s h R i v e r Paul Kane (1810-1871), Fishing by Torch Light, - 1856, 1849 Torch Fishing oil by on With canvas. the permission of the Royal Paul Kane (1810-1871), Ontario Museum © ROM. Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; artist: Eric Paulson Fish weir located in the Crawfish River. Fishing by torch light.

The adjacent Crawfish River was an essential means of transportation, providing access to area lakes and marshes as well as a direct route to Cahokia and other Mississippian sites via the Rock and Mississippi Rivers. The river also provided opportunities for acquiring food and other aquatic resources. Plants collected from the river’s edge provided materials for making baskets, nets, matting, and were mixed with clays to produce plaster for housing and the stockades.

fish provided a reliable protein source and were taken freshwater clams also provided the raw material for by hook, spear, and net. Fish “weirs” or traps — points on making shell buttons, beads, and pendants. Crushed clam the river where Indian people built V-shaped, dam-like structures shell was used as a tempering agent in Aztalan pottery produc- to corral fish through constricted areas — have been identified tion. Tempering is what gives strength and durability to pottery. up and down the river, and are visible today during low water The regular use of crushed clam shell as a tempering agent is levels. The river and its margins also afforded opportunities to a distinctive feature of Mississippian pottery production. harvest turtles, clams, waterfowl, aquatic plants, and other foods. Aztalan National Historic Landmark

AGRICULTURE AND GATHERING Lake Mills-Aztalan Historical Daniel Museum; Seurer

Illinois State Museum Museum State Illinois Aztalan hoe made of Mill Creek chert; not to scale.

Agriculture is a hallmark of Mississippian food production. The people of Aztalan grew corn, squash and other domesticated plants. These plants were not native to the area, but were intro- duced by Indian peoples over the millennia (squash as early as 1000 B.C., and corn around A.D. 1000). The earliest Euro-American visitors to Aztalan found remnants of ridged agricultural fields to the north of the outer stockade wall. Evidence of these ridges was later destroyed by plowing. the surrounding areas also provided opportunities for while some foods were stored in pottery vessels for gathering wild plant foods including nuts, fruits and berries, immediate use, larger quantities of food were maintained for roots, tubers, and more. These gathered plants contributed addi- later use in specially prepared storage pits, many of which have tional tastes, textures, and nutritional elements to the diet of the been identified throughout the site. Food production and the community. Intense crop production, supplemented by gathering, ability to create food surpluses provided the people of Aztalan hunting and fishing resulted in food surpluses that could be with the resources necessary to support ritual activities, craft counted on during the lean months of winter. specialization, and construction of mounds, stockades, fish weirs, and houses. Aztalan National Historic Landmark

CONICAL MOUNDS Mark Dudzik, DNR

Typically associated with burials, conical (circular shaped) mounds are the most common and earliest of Midwestern mound types, first occurring early in the Woodland Period (ca. 500 B.C. - A.D. 1350). However, several of the conical mounds located at the northwest corner of the park are not associated with burials. At least five of these mounds were built over the former locations of large diameter posts, which were likely placed to commemorate important events.

The very northernmost mound in this group (located just north of Additional mounds, including a number of conical mounds, an the park, behind the privately-owned pioneer village and museum) enclosure, and an elongated linear mound, are found along and did contain the burial of a young woman adorned with over below a prominent ridge on the east side of the Crawfish River. 17,000 shell beads. It is not clear how or even if this individual was related to the Mississippian town of Aztalan, but she was clearly a person of high status. Aztalan National Historic Landmark

HUNTING Wisconsin DNR Lake Mills-Aztalan Historical Daniel Museum; Seurer

Mississippian type arrow points (top) N.C. Wyeth (1882-1945), The Hunter, 1906, The Hunter, oil on Brandywine canvas. River MuseumN.C. Wyeth (1882-1945), of Art, Gift of Margaret K. Blodgett, 1972 and bone awls (bottom); not to scale. Wisconsin DNR

Although plant foods were an important part of Aztalan meals, hunting was a critical component of diet and lifestyle. Hunting provided variety in the diet, essential protein, skins and furs for clothing, and bones used in the production of tools such as awls and needles.

the majority of animal bone found at the site is deer bone, arrow points were typically quite small and triangle- and deer clearly provided the principal source of meat. shaped, often with characteristic side and basal notches. Deer hides may have been offered in trade to other communities. As the availability of different game animals varied with the Bear, elk, raccoon, beaver, muskrat, fox, passenger pigeon, water- season, so too did hunting strategies. The subsistence strategy fowl, and other animals were also hunted. Most hunting was done based on food production, hunting, fishing, and gathering with bows and arrows, or by using snares and nets. ensured a diet that was varied, nutritious, and dependable. Aztalan National Historic Landmark

PREHISTORIC POTTERY Milwaukee Public Daniel Museum; Seurer Lake Mills - Aztalan Historical Society; Daniel Seurer

A sample of the vessel types found at Aztalan (above) and examples of decorated sherds (right); not to scale.

Pottery sherds (pieces) are one of the most commonly recovered artifacts found at Aztalan. Pottery analysis is an important research tool. Understanding how prehistoric people made and used pottery provides important clues about their daily lives. The presence of pottery reflects a more sedentary lifestyle, since such relatively fragile, often large, heavy items are not charac- teristically associated with highly mobile hunter-gatherers. Pottery at the site was used to store grain and other items, for cooking, and in rituals.

at aztalan, archaeologists recognize pottery from late woodland pottery made of clay and grit is typically mississippian as well as earlier woodland times. While cord-marked on the outside, often with decorated rims. some Late Woodland pottery pre-dates the Mississippian Shell-tempered Mississippian pottery is typically smooth on the occupation, both pottery types are typically found together outside (sometimes polished and decorated with incised lines) throughout the site, likely reflecting co-habitation by Late and comes in many forms (including bowls, plates, jars, beakers, Woodland and Mississippian groups during the major and bottles), reflecting the Aztalan community’s ties to the site occupation of Aztalan. of Cahokia.